GIG REVIEW: Jessie Ware at Paradiso, Amsterdam
Jessie Ware is a funny character. I find her very down to earth, wearing KLM air stewardess-like heels (i.e. very practical). She was even making fun of a couple in the front of the crowd for making out during her song! It's something I have seen also in other UK artists, such as Adele, music so serious but as soon as they open their mouth, you're cracking up with laughter.
Jessie Ware's new album, Tough Love is really really good. This kind of electronic-pop is really popular right now, but she gets it right and the album is really well produced too.
Something really freaky I saw was a man's head reflected in the drummer's transparent barrier but it totally looked like a theatre prompter. hahaha I was speaking with a colleague just recently about this phenomenon as I didn't know such a job existed!
GIG REVIEW: Elliphant at Paradiso, Amsterdam
If there's someone who rocks a stage with just her and one DJ, it's Elliphant. Seriously. And for playing in Paradiso small hall with a crowd so tiny, her energy filled a sold out stadium. And my date for the evening Camille and I danced like we were at a dance festival. It was a crazy good vibe and set. I'm really impressed by Elliphant and her spontaneous and filterless energy is hard not to catch.
GIG REVIEW: Clean Bandit at TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht
Earlier in the year one of my best friends Vivian sent me a message to check out the song Rather Be by UK band Clean Bandit. I remember listening to it for the first time when I was in a hotel room in Germany. I was alone and tired but the song immediately resonated with me and it put me in such a good mood. I really liked the mix of strings with electronic beats and bright vocals. Immediately I checked for concert dates in Amsterdam because I know it would have been cool concert to go to with Viv. But unfortunately when they were going to be touring Amsterdam, Viv was going on a trip through Japan.
In August I saw that Clean Bandit were touring The Netherlands again and I did not hesitate to buy two tickets, one for myself and one for Viv. I bought it 3 months before the concert and it was hard for me not to tell Viv, because I knew she would be really excited. The concert was just a couple days after her birthday so I told her to "save the date" for a birthday surprise.
The day finally came and I asked Viv to meet me at the station after work. When we met I told her to buy a train ticket to Utrecht and she was so excited! I just laughed because she had no idea what it was but she was still excited. When we got out of the train and sat down at the station to eat something, I brought out the 'pre-event' gift, which was a Clean Bandit poster that I took when I was in Stockholm. When she opened it, she just stared at me in disbelief because she knew that we would be going to the concert. It was such a cool feeling to make someone to close to me this happy.
It was our first time in the TivoliVredenburg and it was a rather new venue walking distance from the Utrecht Central Station. The venue itself was big with many floors and halls; very clean but very confusing. All the other concerts in the same venue were signposted and people were lining up wherever in hope they were in the right line.
The support singer Sumera totally blew us away. We actually hadn't done any research about her, but the moment she started singing, it was with so much power without holding back, I could just feel her passion. The acoustics were great in the TivoliVredenburg and every single lyric she sung was crystal clear.
Soon enough Clean Bandit came on stage and the first thing I became mesmerised by was the electric cello that Grace Chatto was playing. It's from the brand Ned Steinberger and it was fixed to a stand so she could stand up playing and it also gave her the freedom to dance around and play other instruments (like her drum pad). I was inspired!
The two singers were so different but side by side with the violinist and cellist together they were just as energetic and positive as each other. It was so nice to see that the band wasn't focused on one lead singer, but all members had equal weighting in the band and they played and moved as one unit. The songs got us all dancing. The crowd was rather young, full of cute girl couples, girls with their dads, groups of students and just very friendly and happy people. When Rather Be came on Viv and I went crazy! This was our jam. It was such a great show and I was so glad to have seen them live with someone who means so much to me. xx
My Ibanez S series electric guitar - white S570B
When I joined all-girl bandTHE FOX as the electric guitarist, I didn't even own one, nor played in a band with one, nor with an effects pedal. For a time I borrowed the guitar of Celine's (our lead singer) little brother. Until I realised it was his only electric guitar and it became tricky logistically. I fell in love with the Swedish Hagstroms and it was by a strike of luck (or fate) that we won one on Facebook. For a couple of years the Hagstrom Super Swede has been doing just fine, and my guitar baby. Only, I've realized that it's not suitable for me physically or for the type of music we play. It would be awesome for jazz, funk and blues. It's a really well made guitar, but it's just very heavy and the neck is not as thin as I desire, to manage the fast pop/rock licks in THE FOX.
So I decided it was time to make an investment in a sexy* guitar that was light and has a thin neck so I can play fast (*sexy because THE FOX, apart from the music is all about having a stage presence that blows audiences away). I wanted the Hagstrom Metropole in white so my Super Swede could have a little brother but I couldn't find a store in Amsterdam to try it without buying it first. Then I also considered the Gibson Melody Maker (and the Gibson Junior) in white (like that of Joan Jett) but when I played it, it seemed suitable only for punk rock power chords. It's not well made, and it's quite cheap so you're paying for the name. I managed to try out an Ibanez S series in another colour and I absolutely fell in love with the playability. A fast neck with a matte finish neck and an incredibly thin body (15mm at the thickest point) which made it super light. The only thing was the colour. I had set my mind on white or creme, and just my luck, I found one at a Dutch online store Rockpalace (now Key Music). Ibanez S series electric guitar, white, model S570B.
I must say that I'm definitely in love! I've started to have guitar lessons as well. It's everything I need right now in a guitar. I think it still needs playing in and needs to be cranked up through the amp really loud but for now I'm really happy with my new guitar baby - still unfortunately unnamed.
I bought it online for €450 at Rockpalace.com (now Key Music)
The Ibanez guitar case I bought at conrad.nl
